Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture
Carpal Tunnel Treatment Hervey Bay
Pressure on the median nerve at the wrist causes numbness through the fingers. The pain will often wake at night.
The symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include:
- Numbness
- Parasthesia
- Pain at night. Shaking the hands calms the sensation
- Referred pain into the arm & shoulder
- Hand weakness
- Wrist pains
- The palmer aspect and lateral three and half fingers
Causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from a medical perspective
- Genetics: Being born with small carpal tunnels leads to pressure on the median nerve. Pressure on the median nerve causes carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Arthritis: arthritis causes inflammation which can lead to carpal tunnel pressure.
- Pregnancy: fluid retention of pregnancy causes pressure in the carpal tunnel.
- Injury: fractures and strains that lead to swelling can lead to carpal tunnel pain.
- Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI): repetitive activities can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. Activities such as: typing, using the mouse, driving and vibration tools.
- No reason: sometimes there’s no known reason for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Acupuncture & the Research for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
A recent study in Massachusetts General Hospital tested 80 patients with carpal tunnel. Patients received 16 treatments over 8 weeks. One group got acupuncture at the local area of symptoms. The second group received acupuncture in the opposite ankle to test distal acupuncture. The third group received Sham or fake acupuncture.
The results showed that real acupuncture treatments were more effective than sham. The group receiving local acupuncture had significant changes in brain function. The changes in the brain measured with MRI were able to predict the success of acupuncture. This was an important study to show a mechanism of how acupuncture works. See the research here: acupuncture carpal tunnel research
Currently (2017) there is not enough positive evidence for acupuncture and carpal tunnel syndrome. It is graded as unclear/ insufficient evidence. More high-quality positive research is needed
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References
Maeda, Y., Kim, H., Kettner, N., Kim, J., Cina, S., Malatesta, C., Gerber, J., McManus, C., Ong-Sutherland, R., Mezzacappa, P. and Libby, A., 2017. Rewiring the primary somatosensory cortex in carpal tunnel syndrome with acupuncture. Brain, 140(4), pp.914-927.
Maeda, Y., Kim, H., Kettner, N., Kim, J., Cina, S., Malatesta, C., Gerber, J., McManus, C., Ong-Sutherland, R., Mezzacappa, P. and Libby, A., 2017. Rewiring the primary somatosensory cortex in carpal tunnel syndrome with acupuncture. Brain, 140(4), pp.914-927.